CHED bans med students from bringing cameras inside operating rooms
05/05/2008 | 12:27 PM
MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) on Monday released a directive, prohibiting medical students from bringing camera devices inside operating rooms of government-run hospitals, in light of the controversial "Cebu surgery scandal."
This, Health Secretary Francisco Duque relayed to reporters at a press conference at the Department of Health office on Monday morning, a radio report said.
“Ito iyong ipinagbabawal na direktiba sa mga eskwelehan sa lahat ng kanilang estudyante na pinagbabawalan ng paggamit ng mga video camera, digital camera, cellular phones with camera features, and other similar equipments habang sila ay sumasailalim ng kanilang training to witness (surgeries) that are related to their courses, while attending a clinical business (This is a directive preventing medical students from bringing still and digital cameras as well as mobile phones with camera features whenever they undergo training to attend a clinical business)," Duque said.
The move was in response to calls by the Department of Health (DOH) to bar medical students from carrying cameras during surgeries in order to avoid a repeat of the incident involving a video of an operation to remove a perfume canister from a man’s anus at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City.
The video was uploaded on popular video-sharing website YouTube, causing an uproar from various sectors of society for the alleged violation of medical ethics and human rights.
The patient in the video is currently seeking damages from the medical team and the VSMMC, after he allegedly suffered “mental anxiety, social humiliation, wounded feelings, and sleepless nights."
Duque said that students caught sneaking in cameras during operations could either be meted suspension or dismissal by their respective school administrators.
Although the National Bureau of Investigation is still probing on the incident, rumors swirled that one of the students nurses present in the operation could have been the one who uploaded the video clip on the Internet.
So far, the DOH has identified nine out of the 15 medical practitioners believed to be inside the room during the operation, including four doctors and five nurses.
The embroiled practitioners have yet to reply to the show cause orders sent to them by the Health Department. - Mark Merueñas, GMANews.TV
This, Health Secretary Francisco Duque relayed to reporters at a press conference at the Department of Health office on Monday morning, a radio report said.
“Ito iyong ipinagbabawal na direktiba sa mga eskwelehan sa lahat ng kanilang estudyante na pinagbabawalan ng paggamit ng mga video camera, digital camera, cellular phones with camera features, and other similar equipments habang sila ay sumasailalim ng kanilang training to witness (surgeries) that are related to their courses, while attending a clinical business (This is a directive preventing medical students from bringing still and digital cameras as well as mobile phones with camera features whenever they undergo training to attend a clinical business)," Duque said.
The move was in response to calls by the Department of Health (DOH) to bar medical students from carrying cameras during surgeries in order to avoid a repeat of the incident involving a video of an operation to remove a perfume canister from a man’s anus at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City.
The video was uploaded on popular video-sharing website YouTube, causing an uproar from various sectors of society for the alleged violation of medical ethics and human rights.
The patient in the video is currently seeking damages from the medical team and the VSMMC, after he allegedly suffered “mental anxiety, social humiliation, wounded feelings, and sleepless nights."
Duque said that students caught sneaking in cameras during operations could either be meted suspension or dismissal by their respective school administrators.
Although the National Bureau of Investigation is still probing on the incident, rumors swirled that one of the students nurses present in the operation could have been the one who uploaded the video clip on the Internet.
So far, the DOH has identified nine out of the 15 medical practitioners believed to be inside the room during the operation, including four doctors and five nurses.
The embroiled practitioners have yet to reply to the show cause orders sent to them by the Health Department. - Mark Merueñas, GMANews.TV
